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NEW RUBAIYAT 

FROM A 

SOUTHERN GARDEN 



NEW RUBAIYAT 

FROM A 

SOUTHERN GARDEN 



BY 

GEORGE FREDERIC VIETT 



What in me is dark 
Illumine, what is lonv raise and support; 
That, to the height of this great argument, 
I may assert Eternal Providence 
And justify the ivays of God to men. 

—Milton. 



«N>ro flork 

STURGIS & WALTON 

COMPANY 

1915 






Copyright, 1914, 

By GEORGE FREDERIC VIETT 

Copyright, 1915, 

(y STURGIS & WALTON COMPANY 



First Published elsewhere. Second Edition revised aDd augmented. 
Set up and electrotyped. Published, November, 1915. 



etc i a 1915 

©CI.A416820 



J 



Dedicated to 

The Saintly Sisterhood 

Faith, Mercy f and Peace, 

In Solemn Protest Against 

War and Its Horrors 

Now Desolating the Ancient 

Places of Civilization 

and Christianity 

A. D. MCMXV 



" Haply I think on Thee, — and then my state 
Like to the lark at break of day arising 
(From sullen Earth) sings hymns at Heaven s gate. 

— Shakespeare. 

A theme which will be deliberated by the loftiest 
minds, ages after you and I, like streaks of morning 
cloud, shall have melted into the infinite azure of 
the past. 

— Prof. John Tyndall. 

A Deity believed, is joy begun; 
A Deity adored, is joy advanced; 
A Deity beloved, is joy matured. 
Each branch of piety delight inspires. 

— Young. 

It must be so, Plato, thou reasonest well! — 
Else whence this pleasing hope, this fond desire, 
This longing after immortality f 

— Addison. 



NEW RUBAIYAT 

FROM A 

SOUTHERN GARDEN 



Still seems it strange, that thou shouldst live for 

ever? 
Is it less strange, that thou shouldst live at all? 
THIS is a miracle, and THAT no more. 

— Young. 

Who knows but life be that which men call 
death, and death what men call life. 

— Euripides. 

O canst thou, my Soul, from the store of thy 

learning 
Bring counsel to hallow the hopes of the heart? 

— Viett. 



NEW RUBAIYAT 
FROM A SOUTHERN GARDEN 

i 

Hail — Saintly Muse ! Awake thine Heav- 
enly Choir, 
Illume my Soul with thy Divinelier Fire ! 
Prompt thou a Passion that may urge the 

strength 
Of Pilgrims searching for the Heart's Desire. 

II 

Man and his Destiny — O theme Sublime 
For one that views the Pageantry of Time ! 

Its passion and its pathos and its pride, — 
I crave a Seraph's plume to pen my Rhyme ! 

i 



-New Rubaiyat From 
in 

Awake O Soul that seeks a holier Light 
Than drives the Stars from off the Field of 

Night ! 

Behold the Rising of the Sun of Faith — 

The hosts of Darkness and of Doubt to 

smite ! 

IV 

Come fill the bowl at this reviving Stream, 
For Life is brief, and Youth's enchanting 

dream 
Is but the Phantom of a Glory lost 
Adown that Vista where the shadows teem. 

v 

Amid the Babble and the Noise outside, 
Methought a Voice above the uproar cried — 
" Come to the Temple where the True 

God hears 
The pleading Soul, and throws the Portals 

wide." 

2 



A Southern Garden-. 



VI 

And as the Sun rose some that stood within 
The Shadow, shouted — " Tell us not of 

Sin, 
Life is too brief to waste in Litanies, 

Let us fare forth our Wine and Joy to win." 

VII 

Before the shadows of the last were sped, 
Another Voice from out the Silence said — 
" I still remain, my name is Blasphemy, 
I will abide though all the rest be fled! " 

VIII 

But better Voices drowned the hateful 

sound — 

" At least You shall not stay on Holy ground, 

Brief is your time to curse the pleasant 

Earth, 
And in this Temple you shall not be found ! " 
3 



New Rubaiyat From 



IX 

Far from the noisy Crowd let us retire 
To warm our Hearts by Spring's enchanting 

Fire; 
Bring thou old Khayyam's Verse, and let 

us seek 
With him, the Pathway to the Heart's Desire. 

x 

For we be Seekers after Truth and Light, 
And 'ere the Shadows fall to dim our sight, 

We must determine on the Way and Guide 
For that last Journey through the Vale of 

Night. 

XI 

For this we know, that Life, so dear and 

sweet 

Ends — with thy Love in yonder lone retreat. 

Man and his moil, his laughter and his 

tears, 
Are as the hollow sounds of Phantom feet — 
4 



A Southern Garden. 



XII 

That patter through the crumbling Halls of 

Time, 
Where the loud Horologe sounds its warning 

chime 
And strikes the Hour of Doom, to bid the 

Guests 
Fare forth into the bleak Nights alien Clime. 

XIII 

Here then amid the Songster's caroling, 
Where blushing Roses rarest incense fling, 
Come thou to worship, and let Sorrow 

learn 
The infinite Compassion of the Spring. 



New Rubaiyat From 



XIV 

For Spring has come: the light of Golden 

days 
Is mellow on bright fields and woodland 

ways ; 
And all the World is Beauty newly born, 
And every living Thing hymns forth its 

Praise. 
XV 

The Garden's glory glows to Heav'n again, 
For gentle floods of Sunshine and of Rain 
Have lured the Rose its blushing folds to 

spread, 
While joyous Songsters sing their love re- 
frain. 

XVI 

You cry, — " It nought avails that Spring is 

sweet, 
My Love lies buried here beneath our feet, 
My heart lies with her in the silent Dust, 
Canst thou recall Her from that lone re- 
treat?" 
6 



A Southern Garden. 



XVII 

" Erstwhile we roamed amid these joyous 

Flowers, 
No thought of Grief had we, the Golden 

Hours 
Sped on, for Life and Love were by my 

side; 
Canst thou recall Them to these haunted bow- 
ers!" 

XVIII 

" The Birds lament, their song is full of pain, 
They seem to cry — Will She not come 

again? 

Is this gulf Death so fathomless and wide 

That thou thy Love may nevermore regain ! " 



New Rubaiyat From 



XIX 

And so thou canst not in the fire of Spring 
The desolation of thy sad Heart fling! 

Yet May — rose-garlanded — cries out 

" Behold, 
Not leaden Death, but golden Life a-wing! " 

xx 

I sing the Resurrection, and my Prayer 
Is answered by the green Earth everywhere; 
Decay and Death! These are but other 

names 
For Change; behold It in this Garden fair! 

XXI 

See ! even Here thy Love is glorified, 
Dost thou not see Death and the Grave de- 
nied? 
This very Rose that smiles above her Clay 
Is part of Her, for Lo — 'tis Eastertide ! 



8 



A Southern Garden-. 



XXII 
So let her rest beneath the rose's reign 
14 Among the guests star-scattered " on the 

plain; 
Her dreaming Dust awakens with each 

Rose 
And joys to glimpse the glad sweet World 

again. 

XXIII 

A Resurrection ! Aye, ye Cynical ! 
The simple Sun hath wrought this Miracle, 
That starry Parent of the Earth — he 

knows 
The magic touch Life's golden Cup to fill! 



■.New Rubaiyat From 



XXIV 

Come now with Khayyam's Book and let us 

scan 
Its sad perplexities of Plot and Plan, 

The Why and What, the Whence and 

Where of Life 
That thwart and fret the searching Soul of 

Man. 
xxv 

Beware this Persian rhyme! And here con- 
fess 
We pore the Page but for its loveliness, 

Holding our Faith despite the siren chant 
That lures to Doubt with Melody's caress. 

xxvi 

Enmeshed in measures of enchanted Song, 
The dazzling numbers lead thy Soul along 
The paths of Pleasure and the ways of 

Doubt, 
But nowhere minds thee of the Right or 

Wrong. 
10 



A Southern Garden-. 



XXVII 

And Reason reels into the artful Snare, 
And Hope and Faith are tangled unaware 
Amid the spell of Passion's plaints — that 

seem 
Like Angel anthems raised in Holy prayer. 

XXVIII 

So was I led, my better Self to grieve, 

By Sophistries the- Heart would fain believe, 

But soon my Soul returned a Penitent 
And cried to Heaven — pleading — for re- 
prieve. 

XXIX 

I sought for Pleasure and I found but Dust ! 
I reached Ambition and it was but Dust! 

I saw that Glory and the World's acclaim 
Were nought but Bubbles lighting on the 

Dust! 



ii 



— Ne<m Rubaiyat From 

XXX 

When then his luring Lines you pensive read, 
Beware the Spell that would thy foot-steps 

lead 
Adown the paths unblest of Faith and 

Hope! 
Take them but for their Beauty — not their 

Creed. 

XXXI 

Let Faith unshaken bear the searching test; 
There is no balm in Omar for the breast 
Where Life burns low. When Death's 

dark ensigns pall 
The Creed of Passion is but sorry Jest. 

XXXII 

Yet this, old Poet, I will grant to thee — 
That thou hast sung Fate's sweetest litany, 
And on the brow of Love hath pressed a 

wreath 
Of Roses rich to rarest Melody. 
12 



A Southern Garden. 



XXXIII 

No more confounded with thy Sophistry 
I yield my raptured heart and ear to thee, 

And tread the mazes of thy Garden fair 
Mid crimson Roses lost in ecstasy. 

xxxiv 

When wearied of the raucous noisy crew 
Of Scribes and Rhymesters that obstruct the 

View, 
I turn disdainful of their insolence 
To soothe my Spirit with thy Music true. 

XXXV 

Wherefore, sweet Singer, at thy Shrine I 

bend, 
And to the music of thy Song ascend 

Above the din of voices violent 
That fret my Spirit and my ears offend. 



13 



.New Rubaiyat From 



XXXVI 

On Beauty's brow thou hast a Garland bound, 
And Love by thee a Deity is crowned 

To haunting melodies that move the soul 
Of Sympathy, with concord of sweet sound. 

XXXVII 

Thus oft* an halcyon hour I've spent with 

Thee 
Wrapt in the Spell, lost in the Mystery 

Of Life and Death, and all the tangled 

Maze — 
The " Why " and " How " of Human Des- 
tiny. 

XXXVIII 

Ah, yes, I know my Rubaiyat full well, 
Soul-soothing melodies that banish Hell 
But leave us reft of Heaven, and the 

Soul — 
The very Soul affrighted at its spell! 
14 



A Southern Garden. 



XXXIX 

Yet this I know — and rest my Trust upon — 

The old World rolls beneath the kindly Sun, 

And God is Love, and Heaven o'er our 

heads, 
And Conscience tells that Heaven must be 

won. 

XL 

The Clay may rear its vain Philosophies, 
Life cannot answer all Life's mysteries; 
The angel Death, He " of the darker 

drink," 
'Tis through His touch alone the Spirit sees. 

XLI 

What thoughtful Soul may view unmoved the 

pain 
Of Human hearts; the cruelty of Gain; 

The Passion and the Pathos of a World 

Where Innocence and Virtue plead in vain, — 

15 



New Rubaiyat From 



XLII 

And not discern a Refuge in the Sky 
Whereto the outraged Souls of Men may 

fly- 
The Scales of God his Love and Wrath to 

weigh — 
With Retribution's flaming sword nearby? 

XLIII 

Thus much, old Omar, I'll not yield to 

thee — 
I will nor hail nor praise thy blasphemy; 

I do protest — by Love's Immortal Soul 
Protest — the Dust is not my Destiny ! 



16 



A Southern Garden, 



XLIV 

Rejoice O Soul! The Light that Sinai shed 
To guide the Living, sanctify the Dead, 

Is mingled with Salvation's beams diffused 
From Calvary's crest where the Anointed 

bled. 

XLV 

Thou Great Spirit of Eternity! 

That of the Starry Clay didst fashion me, 

Gave me this Habitation, and this Robe 
Of Flesh, to veil awhile thy Majesty — 

XLVI 

Let me no more lament, nor Duty shirk! 

1 am a Fragment of Thy Handiwork, 
A piece that fits in Thine eternal Plan 

Wherein unmeasured potency may lurk. 



17 



■New Rubaiyat From 



XL VII 

Nay! tell me not in Discourse or in Song — 
From Night and Chaos came the Joyous 

Throng 
Of Life, and Light, and Loveliness, and all 
These Earthly Kingdoms that to them be- 
long. 

XLVIII 

Ye worldly-Wise ! The very Grass defies 
Your Logic, and yon airy Songster cries 
Unto its Love — " 'Tis Lies ! Believe it 

not! 
We hold Truth's mirror to their blinded 

eyes ! " 

XLIX 

Nay ! Not from Chaos or the barren Night 
My Spirit rose, but with the Morning Light 

It came, rejoicing in the Smile of God 
Who winged it then for its Eternal flight. 
18 



A Southern Garden. 



Dare ye deny that unto Some was given 
Answer to their prayers, when in some 

Vision — 

Born of a splendid moment's Ecstasy — 

They glimpsed the Secret in a flash from 

Heaven ! 

LI 

Deem not because thou dost not see the Light 

There is no Light; mayhap 'tis lack of sight, 

Perchance thou treadest some dim tangled 

track 
From whence thou canst not read the Signs 

aright. 

LII 

What petty things our Vision may obscure ! 
Because thou dost not see be not too sure 
There's nought to see; thy biased point of 

view 
Or cecity, a step aside may cure : 

19 



- New Rubaiyat From 

LIII 

Once from my garden path a Star I sought 
And sought in vain, and stood in silent doubt; 
One pace I moved, when Lo, the prospect 

cleared — 
There beamed the World a leaf had blotted 

out! 



20 



A Southern Garden. 



LIV 

Ye that with Rule and Line would measure 

Him, 
And with your Logic bind the Seraphim, 
Whence came this wondrous Reason that 

ye urge 
To prove You Nothing, and Faith's light to 

dim? 
LV 

If Man be Nothing and his Life a Dream, 
His Reason then is Nothing, it must seem; 
And Nothing, then, by Nothing thus de- 
fined 
Shows Nothing has but Nothing for its 

theme ! 

LVI 

If thus by Logic we may Nothing be, 

Were it not well O Friend for You and Me 

To leave old barren Reason to her way, 
And rise with Faith to some Reality? 
21 



-New Rubaiyat From 

LVII 

Amidst the Dust of this dim Shadow-Land, 
Bound by the two Eternities I stand, 

Myself unto Myself a Mystery, 
Seeking all Secret things to understand. 

LVIII 

Like phantom Pilgrims through a Vale of 

Fears, 

We journey on with laughter or with tears, 

Hope, Faith, and Memory, the only Lights 

To guide our footsteps through the dark'ning 

years. 

LIX 

Blest Sisterhood — Faith, Hope, and Mem- 
ory! 
Bright Trinity of Life — it is through Ye 
We read the purpose of our Earthly way 
And find the pathway to Felicity! 



22 



A Southern Garden-. 



LX 

Hope, Faith, and Charity, Genius, and Love! 

May Chance or Reason these define or prove? 

And wouldst thou bind to Dust with 

Logic's chain 
These Saintly Graces winged to soar Above ! 

LXI 

Preach not to me of " Reason's crowning 

light!" 
Tis but the reflex of that Deeper Sight 

By Inspiration and Emotion given 
To wing the Soul for its Divinelier flight. 

LXII 

Imagination is an Attribute 

Of Soul; Ye that this Truth seek to confute, 

And Fancy to the sullen Earth confine, 
Give for her Realm a sorry substitute. 



23 



— New Rubaiyat From 

LXIII 

O Death — dread Minister of Time and 

Space ! 
Beyond these confines Thou no more shalt 

trace 
And claim thy subject Clay, Beyond the 

Grave 
Is Life Eternal by the Master's grace. 

LXIV 

O Life — upon yon myriad Worlds I see 
Thy bright Light beating, full and far and 

free, 
Before which shrinks the awful Spectre, 

back 
To its one Refuge 'neath the fateful Tree — 

LXV 

Of Eden's grove, that Sorrow-haunted spot 
Where Hell's accursed Trinity the Plot 
Devised; perchance the self-same Garden 

where 
Old Omar sought the Truth — and found it 

not. 

24 



A Southern Garden. 



LXVI 

Let Science ridicule and Learning flout, 
There IS some Dark Conspiracy about — 

Whose utterings and mutterings assail 
The Soul within, and work a Curse without! 

LXVII 

" Nature is God and all the Rest absurd " 
Ye cry — " Seek There and you shall find 

your Lord! " 

Yet still Ye search in vain, and evermore 

Come back with empty hands and idle word! 

LXVIII 

I sent my Soul 'mid Nature's shrines to seek 
Some Answer, but the Dumb god could not 

speak 
Except to tell of Penalties and Pains, 
Of cruel sport of Strong against the Weak. 



25 



New Rubaiyat From 



LXIX 

She gave no Sign my ardent Heart to swell, 

In all her Book one passage could I spell — 

No more, — " Who worship Me their god 

I am, 
And unto them I am or Heaven or Hell." 

LXX 

Nor yonder Sky, nor Earth from Pole to 

Pole 

Life's Mystery unveiled; nor Voice nor Goal 

Was there ; nor Sign nor Answer did I find; 

The Silence heaped its vastness on my Soul! 

LXXI 

Then unto Him who works behind her Screen 
I lifted up my voice — O Thou Serene 

And Mighty One, raise me from Bondage 

dire, 
Grant me the Vision for the Things Unseen ! 
26 



A Southern Garden. 



LXXII 

I sent my Soul into the Night's Abyss, 
Anon my Soul returned and whispered this — 
" The Darkness is but Shadow of the Clay, 
Upon the screen of Life a Shade it is! " 

LXXIII 

Keen in the Quest, on Hope's bright mission 

bent, 
Amid the Starry hosts my rapt' Soul went, 
And this the Message, it brought back to 

Earth — 
Doubt is Within, Without all is Content! 

LXXIV 

Or where old Saturn rolls his Circled orb, 
Or where the Pleiades in splendor throb, 

The Universal Anthem ever told — 
God is the Soul, Creation is His Robe ! 



27 



.New Rubaiyat From 



LXXV 

" Monstrous Conceit! " I cried, " that Man 

should trust 
And urge his Reason to the ' Why ' and 

' Must/ 
Deeming the Wisdom of the Universe 
Confined upon his whirling Speck of Dust." 

LXXVI 

O Sophist — that with sullen Heart doth 

flout 
The Prophets, and the Prayers of the De- 
vout 
'Tis Thou perversely Blind that wilt not 

see 
The Spirit-Light that sheds its beams with- 
out. 
LXXVII 

May Reason measure all the Mighty Things 
And portion them to petty Questionings ? 

Go Scorner first, and in thy Wisdom find 
The Secret of the Bird that yonder sings ! 
28 



A Southern Garden. 



LXXVIII 

O Nobler far, an Universe wherein 
The Soul may soar forever questioning, 

Forever mounting to the One True Light 
That single burns through all the clouds of 

Sin. 



29 



- Neit) Rubaiyat From 

LXXIX 

Though strange perplexities enwrap my Lot, 
And weak my Vision to divine the Plot, 
Thus much is clear — " Where Death is 

I am Not," 
And clearer still — "Where I am Death is 

Not." 

LXXX 

I lived Before, yet know not how, or where ; 
Dim intimations come, and Visions fair 

Of purest Presences, and pleasant plains, 
And halcyon joys in which I had a share : 

LXXXI 

Herein, methinks, " Reincarnation " holds 
Clue to the Secret that nought else unfolds — 
That Spirits pass and choose their heaven 

or hells 
Through myriad forms that mundane Nature 

moulds. 
30 



A Southern Garden. 



LXXXII 

Out of the Past we came — my Love and I, 
Stamped with the seal of Immortality, 

And ever purer, stronger, we shall grow; 
For that which Ever Was will Never Die ! 

LXXXIII 

Past, Present, Future — solemn Trinity, 
Enfolds the measure of our Destiny ! 

Death is but passing through the Shadows 

deep 
That guard the secrets of Divinity. 

LXXXIV 

Out of the Past's Eternity we came, 
In that Maternal bosom burned the Flame 
Of Life, that burst at last to Conscious- 
ness; 
And She will not deny her offspring's claim. 



31 



New Rubaiyat From 



LXXXV 

Immortal there — I must Immortal be, 
All of the mighty Past finds Life in me ; 

And not until they shall blot out what Was 
Shall they deny me Immortality ! 

LXXXVI 

With Christ and Plato thus I do confess 
The Faith that holds the anodyne to Bless: 

Eternal Life is mine by God's decree — 
Here, Now, I feel the Infinite caress! 

LXXXVII 

Ere thou shalt name my Hope a phantasy, 

Ere thou canst claim my Creed but ecstasy, 

Ere thou durst vow no God to hear my 

prayer 
And this brief Life the sole Reality — : 



32 



A Southern Garden-. 



LXXXVIII 

Search first the myriad Worlds in yon Abyss 
And find no spot secure to Faith and Bliss, 
And bringing back nor Hope nor ray of 

Light, 
Still would I cry — " Here, in my Soul, IT 

IS!" 



33 



New Rubaiyat From 



LXXXIX 

From old Deceits and newer Heresies, 
From dismal Doubts and brazen Blasphe- 
mies, 
From impious Pedant and Philosopher 
Distorting Truth with learned Sophistries — 

xc 

Good Lord deliver us ! That we may view 

But That which is Thine Own, and ever True ; 

And with confusion smite the God-less band 

That bring pollution to the Shrine of You! 

XCI 

Disdainful Pedants — with your pride of 

Mind — 

That all Man's questionings to Logic bind, 

What Tidings bring ye of the Outer Way? 

And what avails it all when Dust-consigned ! 



34 



A Southern Garden-. 



xcn 

O Ye, of sullen Heart and cold disdain, 
That mock at Faith and seek to make it plain 
Hope's but a phantom — Why ! the Soul 

protests 
The Hand that fashioned It wrought not in 

vain ! 

XCIII 

My Spirit — Passion-plumed — It mounts 

and soars, 
And spurns your Prison bars and bolted 

doors; 
Reason is but Earth's summit whence It 

wings 
Its higher Flight a-search for nobler Shores 1 

xciv 

Upon the wakened wonder of my Soul 
The deeper Harmonies of Nature roll, 

Earth, Sea and Sky in melody proclaim 

With equal voice — the Living God's control. 

35 



=New Rubaiyat From 
xcv 

This Heav'nly Hope deep in my Heart, it 

tells 
What all thy Dusty Logic vainly spells 

Of Truth. Not purposeless and false 

'twas set, 
And not in vain within the Soul it dwells. 

xcvi 

I know but little, but this much I know — 
That Death, which gathers all things here 

below, 

Is but a Means unto some viewless End; 

By Nature's Law, and Faith, that much I 

know! 

xcvn 

Indeed I have in raptured moments caught 
Flashes of Truth by Reason vainly sought, 

The momentary parting of the Veil 
Revealed that which no Logic ever taught. 

36 



A Southern Garden. 



XCVIII 

And in such instant did my Spirit seem 
To catch a glimpse of the Eternal Scheme 
Wherein the Past and Future merged in 

One 
Reality, and Earth was but a Dream! 

xcix 

There, in the radiance of Cosmic Soul, 
The Past and Future seemed a Perfect Whole 
Wherein the Hosts departed and to Come 
Their Being held beyond old Time's control. 

c 

And even as I gazed, from out that Sphere 
A Spirit strayed, and straightway in the Snare 
Of Time was caught, to languish and to 

dream 
Until the Master shall recall it There. 



37 



,New Rubaiyat From 



ci 

Can all these wondrous Intimations be 
But phantoms of a Poet's ecstasy? 

Begone — dark Prophet ! Thought is 

creative, 
Soul is the Ultimate Reality! 



38 



A Southern Garden. 



en 

For I remember once by Karnak's pile, 
Amid the shadows of its columned Aisle, 

I wept the waste to see, and wept for those 
Who reared this sculptured Glory of the 

Nile; 
cm 

Afar a Figure seemed to beckon me — 
A gentle goddess lost in Reverie 

Of old Remembrances, her eyes adream 
Seemed meditating on Eternity. 

civ 

And through those eyes I saw the Pageant 

wend — 

Kings upon Kings, and Pilgrims without end, 

The Pomp and Power, and the Weal and 

Woe 
Of countless Millions, in the prospect blend ! 



39 



■.New Rubaiyat From 



cv 
I cried aloud — O thou Divinity ! 
Whence came that smile of sweet serenity 
That beamed on Pharaoh as upon me 

Now — 
Did Mortal give thee Immortality? 

cvi 
Hast thou then gained what thy Designer 

sought 
In vain? A Soul! Which he divinely 

wrought 
To give thee immortality Below ! 
Did Genius fashion this and pass to Nought ! 

evil 
Is't all but Dreams and Dust, and Destiny 
At random venture and wild revelry? 

Locked in the Star-Dust when no Mind 

there was, 
Till Chance — the Wizard — found the fatal 

Key! 
40 



A Southern Garden. 



CVIII 

If Chance unto the Void Life's mandate flung, 
Creation trembling on the Balance hung, 
And in that Hazard there was cast my 

Soul, 
And there from Nothing my Existence 

wrung ! 
CIX 

If Fate be Chance and Destiny its Game, 
And forth from Senseless Nothing leapt the 

Flame 
Of Life; — e'en so, Beloved, may not this 

Chance 
Repeat the Process, and thy Presence claim — 

ex 

Once more, in some New Universe To Be 
That waits its sure and wondrous Destiny, 
Where Time and Chance shall set the 

Scene again 
And to the Drama summon You and Me. 
4i 



- Ne<w Rubaiyat From 

CXI 

And thus may every Combination set 
Be set again, in the Eternal fret 
And moil of Matter in Infinity! 
Once caught, why not again — in Chance's 

net? 



42 



A Southern Garden. 



cxn 

They say Old Time both Thee and Me will 

sweep 
Into Oblivion's abyss — dark and deep — 
To everlasting Bondage ! Sorry jest — 
While one lone Star its Vigil still shall keep ! 

CXIII 

Behold the Stars ! And in their Glory drown 
Doubt and Despair, and all the Brood that 

frown 
On Faith; let Exultation rise supreme 
And read a Promise not to Logic known. 

cxiv 

I sometimes think these Stars above my head 

Are blest Abodes of the unnumbered Dead 

That wend their Heavenward way from 

Sphere to Sphere, 
And find in each a Paradise to tread. 



43 



= New Rubaiyat From 
cxv 

Yon mystic Moon the Secret might disclose, 
Perchance doth signal down her beams — 

who knows ? 

I dreamed she was a Pilgrim resting-place 

Where erstwhile Earthly Guests take brief 

repose 
cxvi 

On their long Journey. Be this then the Spell 
That moves in us the thoughts tongue may 

not tell? 
Is it that loved Friends send Peace mes- 
sages 
From yon fair Moon — our Mutiny to quell? 

cxvn 

These myriad Worlds, so wondrous to the 

view, 
May not One hold to our sad Search the 

clue ? 
May not there be in this Immensity 
Some Garden where Earth's fairest Dreams 

come True? 
44 



A Southern Garden. 



CXVIII 

Would'st thou then find thy lost Love — seek 

her There; 
Mayhap thou'lt meet her waiting for thee, 

where 
Some statelier Sun illumes a nobler World 
Of Beings radiant and surpassing fair. 

CXIX 

And though no Door responds to Reason's 

key, 
Who is it dares to say what " Cannot Be," 

Or swears a single Hope impossible 
In the vast Chances of Eternity! 



45 



=New Rubaiyat From 
cxx 

This Universe — this One stupendous Whole 
Of mighty Systems that in splendor roll, 

Who dare deny in all this Heav'nly space 
One little Spot of Refuge for the Soul! 

cxxi 

For it is bound to us — yon Milky Way, 
By Cosmic Law and kinship of the Clay; 

He that apportioned It of Life and Light 
Will not consign my Being to decay. 

CXXII 

And He that set this mighty Arch of Light, 

And winged its Systems for harmonious flight, 

And sempiternal placed each Atom 

there — 
Will not consign my Soul to endless Night. 



46 



A Southern Garden-. 



CXXIII 

Where has old Omar gone — dost thou in- 
quire ? 
List then the chorus of the Cosmic Choir — 
The roar of Suns, the melody of Moons, — 
That fills the Pathway to his Heart's Desire ! 



47 



■New Rubaiyat From 



CXXIV 

Life's meaning! Hast thou not read it — 

why then 
Thou hast not lived! These multitudes of 

Men 
That went Before, they left the Record 

clear — 
That Clay is of the Earth, the Soul of 

Heav'n. 
cxxv 

They Came and Went; veiled in the Flesh 

they came, 
Their Bodies of the Dust were made; that 

same 
Dumb Dust, that Starry, Deathless Dust, 

not less 
Than when they gave it meaning and a Name. 

CXXVI 

And if on Dust thou callest to explain, 
Methinks the Dust might give the Answer 

plain — 
"lam nor more nor less than what I am, 
As Spirit finds and leaves me I remain." 
48 



A Southern Garden-. 



CXXVII 

Man's Prayers, and Miracles, You do de- 
cry — 
11 For in the face of Nature's Laws they fly ! " 

Yet dare you say the Maker of the Law 
May not His Law suspend? Then tell me 

why? 

CXXVIII 

11 Nature is just," you vow, " Her Scales are 

fair, 
Her balance gives to This or That its share, 

And with undeviating Equity 
Rules Sea and dew-drop, mote and Starry 

sphere." 
cxxix 

Ah! but her Scales were not for Souls de- 
signed 
But for Her own — Her Matter dumb and 

blind; — 
Her Laws, unless by Deity devised 
Mock at the Soul and flout the ardent Mind! 
49 



New Rubaiyat From 



cxxx 

No Hell, they cry, " save what exists in fear." 

Be still my Heart, the Secret draweth near! 

Find them a Hell they'll grant to us a 

Heaven; 
Behold O Doubter, Lo — thy Hell is Here ! 

CXXXI 

" A Myth," ye say, " our happiness to quell, 
We ask no Heaven and we fear no Hell! " 
Yet shall You not escape, for IT is HERE ! 
And 'ere thou goest thou shalt know it well. 

cxxxn 

Scan the dark Record that the Ages yield 
Of Pride, and Lust, and sanguinary field; 

Of Martyrdom, and Torture, and Despair, 
And gaping Wounds that Time has never 

healed. 



50 



A Southern Garden 



cxxxin 

O Earth — Step-Mother of the harsh con- 
trol! 
Remorseless takest thou thy grievous Toll 
Of Tears and Travail for the meagre fare 
Thou givest thine adopted Child — the Soul. 

cxxxiv 

Merciless Mother of the Flood and Flame! 
What anguished Multitudes have cursed thy 

Name, 
As seared and crushed by thy relentless 

hand 

They felt thy Rage — that knows nor truce 

nor shame; 

cxxxv 

See ! In thy bosom Nero — there at rest 
Amid his victims, and thine equal guest I 

There lie they all — or Monster or a Saint, 
Adream in dusty Peace; O dreadful Jest! 
5i 



New Rubaiyat From 



CXXXVI 

O cold and bitter Step-Mother ! We sue 
That Higher Court above thy Vault of Blue ! 
From thy Blind judgment we appeal our 

Case 
And plead the Court of Souls for its review. 

CXXXVII 

Yet not unmindful of thy Favors shown 
Is he who pens the Writ, for he hath known 
Thy Joys. Yet not for thy Vast cruelty 
May all thy Glories and thy Gifts atone. 

CXXXVIII 

Dark is the Record in thy Bosom pent 
O Earth ! Much didst thou promise of Con- 
tent, 
But Dust was all thou gavest in the End — 
Dust for the Vile, Dust for the Innocent! 



52 



A Southern Garden-. 



CXXXIX 

Me and my Love, yon Bird upon the bough, 
Between thy Stony heart and Starry brow 
To Dust thou'lt grind Us, as thou grindest 

all! 
We know thy Treachery, alas — we Know I 

CXL 

Yet there be Two thy grinding may not wear, 
For Sleep and Death are ever Young and 

Fair, 
The Healer and Restorer of thy work 
Formed of no Flesh thy cruel fangs may tear. 

CXLI 

Soft Flesh ! poor Servant of this Soul of mine, 

Born of the Earth yet more than half Divine, 

Prey of relentless Powers — fanged and 

clawed — 
That ambush and conspire with harsh design; 



53 



■.New Rubaiyat From 



CXLII 

Fashioned so frail yet fast in fell control 
Of crushing Forces that exact their Toll; 

Ill-shod to mount the adamantine Heights 
That bar the Spirit's vision of its Goal. 



54 



A Southern Garden-. 



CXLIII 

Upon Life's Mount we stand, yet still they 

rise — 

The Hills of Hope that tower to the Skies, 

And though their Summits here we may 

not see, 
We shall behold them with Immortal eyes ! 

CXLIV 

Blest Thanatos — Restorer of the Soul, 
Not over Thee Time's Juggernaut doth roll ! 

Like to thy sister Sleep — thy Ministry 
Is all Divine, and not of Time's control. 

CXLV 

These bonds of Flesh that bind thee here be- 
low, 
They shall be sundered, that thy Soul may 

grow 
Unto that compass by its God designed; 
And not till then shalt thou the Secret know. 
SS 



New Rubaiyat From 



CXLVI 

What is Man's Wisdom 'mid these Mysteries 
Of Causes bent to unknown Purposes? 
Some Rules and Tables scratched upon a 

Leaf 
Of Time, flung on a Ball of Dirt — it is ! 

CXLVII 

A little Knowledge gathered by his Tribe 
For boastful Argument or Diatribe, 

An Infant's babble of its treasured toys — 
Flaunted with pompous mien by Fool or 

Scribe. 

CXLVIII 

What is it all but the moil of a Mite 
'Mid Mountains to move? And what is the 

Sight 
Of a Worm of the Ground that gazes 

around 
And sees not the Day — and knows but the 

Night? 
5* 



A Southern Garden. 



CXLIX 

This Clay, this Dust, this Matter dumb and 

blind — 

'Tis the Soul's dream, the pageantry of Mind ! 

Else were it Cause and Consequence — the 

same, 
A Frankenstein self-shaped and self-designed ! 

CL 

Why ! if this Matter be thus marvelous, 
And potent to beget this ALL of us — 
Then surely there's no limit to its gift 
And I shall claim of It a Soul for us ! 

CLI 

TO-DAY and YESTERDAY mark Time's 

decay 
Whereof the Soul knows not; THAT is 

alway 
Nor more nor less than what it Was and 

Is; 
TO-MORROW is but part of Its TO-DAY. 
57 



New Rubaiyat From 



CLII 

For if Man hath no Soul what then is He 
More than his corpse? O solemn Mystery! 
All that was There before it Here remains ; 
And what then was that Conscious Entity ? 

CLIII 

Ask not the Winds that o'er the Meadows 

pass, 

Ask not the Rain, the Sunshine, or the Grass, 

These heed no Question and no Answer 

give ; 
Your Earth is iron and your Sky is brass ! 

CLIV 

This marble Image prone — this lifeless 

Clay — 
Whither the Tenant that has passed away? 
The Soul that beamed from out those glassy 

eyes — 
'Tis clear That has no share in this decay: 

58 



A Southern Garden- 



CLV 

Two-fold was this Being; give Earth its own, 

But claim not for the Dust that Spirit flown, 

For IT has fled to sweep with tireless wing 

The Morning Skies that circle Heaven's 

Throne. 

CLVI 

If Past and Future, Now, is Nought,— you 

say — 

Than He that passed but this late Hour away, 

Not less than one Unborn is He, not more 

Than Him lost in a Thousand Years' decay ! 

CLVII 

But if you still persist they Both are Nought, 
Then is your Wisdom bare, and dearly 

bought, 
For if your All be Now — a Moment's 

span — 
Vain is the knowledge by your cunning 

caught : 

59 



New Rubaiyat From 



CLVIII 

Take Nought from Nothing — what will 

there remain? 
Add Nought to Nothing — what is then your 

gain? 
Recount, divide or multiply your Sum — 
The task in Nothing ends ; 'tis all in vain ! 

CLIX 

For HAS BEEN minus NEVER plus TO 

BE 
Totals your NOW, itself illusory; 

A grim Phantasmagoria of Time 
That sums the measure of absurdity. 

CLX 

Nor deem because by Logic's aid I press 
The Argument, its force is then the less, 

Tell first what prompted Reason to the task 
Ere ye pronounce my Creed an empty guess. 



60 



A Southern Garden 



CLXI 

But should Annihilation end the View, 
What is there then — forsooth — for Me to 

rue? 
Nor shall your after Mockery offend — 
But how with You if all of It be True! 

CLXII 

Nor will I seek in Wine false strength to 

brave 

My fate, playing the part of fool or knave; 

I shall go clean and clear-eyed to the 

end — 
I shall go chaste and sober to my Grave. 



61 



New Rubaiyat From 



CLXIII 

Some for a Paradise on earth contend, 
And some there are who will no credit lend 
To earthly Paradise, or Heav'n, or Hell, 
And stumble blindly to their hopeless end. 

CLXIV 

O Scorner — make the most of thy short stay, 
The Ground is gaping for its kindred Clay! 
Let Faith and Hope and Charity be Ours, 
The glorious Hazard, THAT is Mine To- 
day! 

CLXV 

Thus am I better fortified to strive 
Than You with all that Logic can contrive, 
All that is yours I have, with More, to give 
Me strength in Death, and larger Hope in 

Life. 



62 



A Southern Garden 



CLXVI 

What doth your Learning and its quest reveal 

Of Fate's grim Mystery of Woe and Weal? 

The Heart's devotion sheds a clearer 

Light! 
Tis well to Know, but better still to Feel. 

CLXVII 

The Heart moves on when Sense is lost in 

Sleep, 
Oft leaps exultant where the Mind must 

creep — 

Oft beats in protest at sad Reason's doubts ; 

Firmer the Bridge it casts athwart the Deep. 

CLXVIII 

Let Faith and Hope their sacred Signs invent ! 
I'd rather yield them all my Soul's assent 
Than hold that monstrous creed — a God- 
less world 
And Human creatures on no Mission bent. 
*>3 



■.New Rubaiyat From 



CLXIX 

Ye of the cursed creed of " Might is Right," 
Ye may too late discern that " Right is 

Might," 
Finding Hell's legions stronger than thine 

own, 
And Angels mightier still with Virtue's 

might. 

CLXX 

With " Might is Right " your impious battle- 
cry 
Ye press and smite, and God and man defy; 
So may ye learn the blasting might of Hell, 
And power of Heav'n, that creed to satisfy ! 

CLXXI 

There is below no Monster more accurst 
Than thou — that canst from hunger cold 

and thirst 
Withhold the coin that might the pang as- 
suage, 
And live the best while smiling on the worst. 

6 4 



A Southern Garden. 



CLXXII 

O thou that gatherest the Golden hoard 
By brutal might, by trickery or fraud, 
What wilt thou purchase with thy riches, 

Friend? 
In what Eternal Bank is it all stored? 

CLXXIII 

Think you to revel at the Feast of Life 
Unmindful of the want and anguish rife 
Without thy gates, nor pay the Reckon- 
ing — 
Nor bear thy portion in the grievous strife ! 

CLXXIV 

Ah — yours the cursed heart that can deny 
The widow's portion or the orphan's cry — 

Decline a pittance to a dire distress 
And look on Sorrow with a steely eyel 



65 



■New Rubaiyat From 



CLXXV 

Feast well thy Gluttony at board and mart, 

For thou ere long will of the Dust be part, 

And Earth will lighten and Hell groan 

with joy 
When Death shall frown and still thy Miser 

heart. 

CLXXVI 

This Worldly Trust you set your soul upon — 
It shall breed reptile Horrors, and anon, 
The Harvest you shall gather will be 

swarms 
To fang Death's barb, when Life's brief day 

is done! 

CLXXVII 

For me — I give my mite, and giving, grieve 
My poverty, that has not more to give; 

Holding no privilege more blest than that 
Which can a fellow-creature's need relieve. 



66 



A Southern Garden. 



CLXXVIII 

For Love, and Mercy, Rapture, Charity, 
Are tokens of the Soul's Divinity, 

Above the Mind's analysis they stand — 
Beacons of Faith and Immortality! 

CLXXIX 

But if in moments of despair and trial 
You cannot with God's Mercy reconcile — 
The Tragedies and Horrors of the Earth 
That seem to banish Providence, the while; 

CLXXX 

So that thy Heart is torn, thy Soul dismayed 
At the grim pageantry of Sin arrayed — 
The monstrous Mournfulness of all the 

Past 
With its red Record, and old Debts unpaid; 



6 7 



-New Rubaiyat From 



CLXXXI 

At Virtue crushed and Vice victorious, 
At Blasphemers about, contemptuous 

Of all the Sacred Promises and Hopes, 
Who mocking, swear the Grave takes All of 

us. 

CLXXXII 

Peace to thy Soul ! It is not thine affair, 
Thee and thy Conscience, these thine only 

care; 
Art Thou to Judge and settle for the 

World? 
Nay! Each in time will answer — Here or 

There. 

CLXXXIII 

'Tis not for Thee to portion Praise or Blame, 
To measure Justice, or dispute the Claim; 
Thou knowest not which way that Pilgrim 

went, 
Thou knowest not which way this Pilgrim 

came! 
68 



A Southern Garden. 



CLXXXIV 

What is the Sum to thee? Canst thou not 

see 
That all the Sorrow and the Misery 

Of these vast Multitudes beneath the 

Moon — 
It is not more than thine own Doom — to 

thee. 

CLXXXV 

The Joy andJSorrow of a single Soul 
That makes the Pilgrimage and pays the 

Toll — 
It is nor more nor less than All Of It, 
The Tragedy of One sums up the Whole. 

CLXXXVI 

Grant me, O Lord, but strength mine own to 

bear, 
Give me the Faith that will not brook 

Despair, 
Look down in Mercy on my frailties, 
My sins forgive, and take my dying Prayer. 

6 9 



New Rubaiyat From 



CLXXXVII 

Thou Great Physician heal me! that I may 
Be strong in Trust to live my little day; 
That I may tread — though all the World 

may mock — 
Firm in the Faith on thy appointed Way. 

clxxxviii 

For Thou dost Live and Reign ! I read the 

Sign 
Writ clear o'er All in characters Divine ; 

In the deep pathos of our Earthly quest, 
Or in the Stars that with Thy Glory shine — 

CLXXXIX 

I know the Truth! Yet was it still more 

clear 
In blest Compassion's glance, and Pity's tear; 

In the Soul-eloquence of Virtue's voice 
And in her mien when Death was drawing 

near. 
70 



A Southern Garden 



cxc 

Aye ! On sweet Human faces have I read — 
God lives in Souls by Saintly purpose led, 

I've seen the Light reflected from Above 
Upon the face of such when Life had fled. 

cxci 

I've read it in a Mother's soft caress, 
In Love's bright eye agleam with tenderness, 
And in the smile that marks the Infant's 

dream, 
And in the Faith that noble Souls profess. 

cxcn 

By those that with Unrighteousness contend 
And stand undaunted Virtue to defend, 
By Angel heart in Human form en- 
shrined — 
I know the Soul shall unto Him ascend. 



71 



New Rubaiyat From 



CXCIII 

By those that from on High their Wisdom 

draw 
And humbly bend their Maker to adore, 
By all these Things I read the mighty 

Truth — 
God Lives and Reigns, Here, Now, and 

Evermore! 



72 



A Southern Garden-. 



CXCIV 

No more with Doubt beset therefore lament 
Thy lot, nor rage with impious discontent; 
Suffice the Master knows, and of His Plan 
Thou art a Part, and to His Purpose bent. 

cxcv 

The Seas may rise, the Earthquake thunders 

roll, 
Old Earth be drowned, or rent from pole to 

pole, 
And dreadful Darkness blot Creation's 

face — 
Yet through that Darkness One shall lead my 

Soul! 

CXCVI 

" No lingering Ages of decrepitude 
With euthenasia for Earth's Evil brood," 

But He shall come in Majesty and Wrath 
To sift the Souls of Men and crush Hell's 

feud! 
73 



= New Rubaiyat From 

CXCVII 

" His Hand Omnipotent shall rend the Clay 
And push the Elements aside, that they 
No more shall stand between his Face and 

those 
Whom He shall come to Judge — on that 

Last Day! " 

CXCVIII 

But if You still deride the pious Plan 
And hold the worship for Mankind is 

" Man," 
Yet would I point to Christ upon the 

Mount — 
Holding Him peerless since the World be- 
gan, 
cxcix 

Let Pedants urge their Logic to explain 
That Jesus and the Prophets lived in vain; 
Show first my Soul a kinder Creed than this 
Which bursts the Grave and cleanses from all 

stain. 
74 



A Southern Garden. 



cc 

It matters not that Mockers may decry, 
And worldly-Wise the Miracle deny! 

The Creed of Christ by noblest Souls pro- 
fessed 
Is Man's supreme Appeal to God on High. 

CCI 

If for some Purpose 'twas by God decreed 
That for His seeking Man should make a 

Creed, 
Then He'll fulfill the Hope by Man pro- 
posed 
When on His Son they called their Souls to 

lead, 
ecu 

Yet many strut in garbs of holiness 
Who scorn Christ's Virgin birth, and hold 

him less 
Than the Messiah sent! How fares it 

then 
With lesser Miracles they still confess? 
75 



New Rubaiyat From 



CCIII 

By that same token stand they not forlorn — 

Their pious Preachments all to tatters torn? 

Of what avail to Us their screeds and 

creeds 
If Christ lived all in vain and died forsworn? 

cciv 

For what were Life if that One Faith be 

vain? 
A dying Flower on a Desert plain — 

A vast Negation 'neath a Soulless Sky — 
A dream of Heaven none may hope to gain. 

ccv 

But 'tis the Miracle they cannot brook! 
Yet Miracles there be where'er we look — 
This Life, Man's Quest, the Secret, are not 

these 
All Miracles writ large in Nature's book? 



7 6 



A Southern Garden-. 



CCVI 

" A Legend and a Myth, man-made," ye cry; 
Show me a better then to satisfy 

The Soul's Desire ! And if there be a 

God 
In any Heaven, this Myth He'll justify! 

CCVII 

Though other Creeds have held some share 

of Truth, 
Yet have they died. This wears Immortal 

youth, 
Summing them all — the Fountain of all 

Good, 
Holding alike all Men in Heaven's Ruth. 

CCVIII 

Their Voice is stilled, their Pride lives but in 

Stone, 
Their Shrines are shattered, and their Tem- 
ples prone, 

77 



z=zNew Rubaiyat From 

The old Moon mourns their Glory, and the 

Wind 
Wails through the Wreckage on the Desert 

strown. 

ccix 

Christ lived and died ! And God will justify 
The Witnesses that stand to testify 

To the Messiah's Mission and His Truth! 
Man's holiest Hope the Lord will not deny. 

ccx 

Not mine the Faith that founders on the 

shoal 
Where murky waters o'er mud marshes roll ; 

My Bark is headed for the surging Sea, 
Its prow is pointed to a Starry Goal ! 

ccxi 

And when at last I near Death's sombre Vale, 

My Prayer shall be to Him who will not fail 

My need. So will I front the mortal Dart 

With level glance that will nor dare nor quail. 

78 



A Southern Garden 



CCXII 

Ah, my Beloved, when with tearful eye* 
You breathe my name, or hold your vigil 

nigh 
The daisied turf 'neath where I lie 

adream — 
Methinks my cold dumb Clay would hear 

your sigh; 

CCXIII 

And strive to work once more the olden 

spell 

Of Love within your heart, and burn to tell 

The solemn Secret which it learned at 

last, 
And to your question whisper — " All is 

Well." 

CCXIV 

For when anear the Poet's starry bed 
Comes Life and Love with light and ling'ring 

tread, 
His dreaming Dust would thrill to list 

their vows, 
And joy to know their presence overhead. 
79 



New Rubaiyat From 



ccxv 

Dust unto Dust ! yet blessed 'tis to know — 
That with Earth's best and noblest we shall 

go; 
Saint, Sage and Beauty, dreaming of the 

Dawn 
And God's awak'ning touch upon their brow. 

ccxvi 

God with them All! My homage here I 

pay 
Unto Earth's sacred Genius passed away; 
And with Love's Greetings hail the Starry 

band 
That shall come After to adorn Life's day. 



80 



A Southern Garden. 



CCXVII 

O brother-Poet, of the TIME TO BE ! 
Who shall in turn dispute the Mystery, 
Breathe thou a Prayer o'er my forgotten 

Clay, 
Deal gently with my Verse, and tell of 

Me — 

CCXVIII 

When unto Death Sin's Penalty I paid, 
And in the Dust my lifeless Clay was laid, 
I did descend, with Trust in Christ to 

Rise; 
Firm in that Faith I fell — and unafraid. 

Amen. 



81 



IS 







1111 

Sill 




II 



111 It 







SHI 
ill 










